But eminent scholar and writer Anna Khandale, Anna to his friends, doesn’t agree with the general perception. He has, infact, put a new spin on the issue while fielding my question ‘when will Meher Baba manifest’. In his view, Meher Baba’s manifestation is not a one-off affair.

“No, His manifestation is not an event, like Krishna allowing Arjun to see His divine universal form on the battle field of Mahabharata. He is continuously manifesting; it has become much more pronounced after He dropped His physical body in 1969”, Khandale, who has been living in Meherabad for over a decade, told me in an interview at his modest one-room unit near the Old Mandali Hall in Lower Meherabad.

Khandale came to Baba through the Theosophical movement. He saw Baba for the first time in 1944 in his home town Akola in the backward Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Baba visited Akola while on Mast tour. Khandale became a regular at Meherabad only after Baba dropped His body.

Presently he is one of the two care-takers of the Samadhi shrine. A much sought after speaker and a prolific writer, he is very unassuming and is acknowledged as a walking encyclopedia on Meher Baba. One of his recent books is titled ‘The Mystery of Life and Death’. It draws upon the hidden meanings and purposes of life as revealed by Avatar Meher Baba.

Elaborating on ‘Manifestation’, Anna Khandale said:

“Lord Krishna revealed His identity as Svayam Bhagavan, the Supreme Being, at Kurukshetra to Arjun. There was a purpose. He had to inspire confidence in Arjun and motivate him. The awe-inspiring vision of Divine Universal Form had the desired effect. So, some expect Meher Baba also to make people experience His Universal Form in some such way. Such people are in for disappointment

“Historically speaking, and going by earlier Avataric advents, the only thing that links the advents is the purpose. Why God has been coming again and again as God Man amidst us? He is coming to re-direct our energies, to re-orient our outlook and to make us realize the Path to reach Him. Each Avatar carried out His Mission according to the needs of the time. Message was the same; Content of the message was the same. The way the Mission was executed was different. In fact, there was no Krishna -like vision gift to Arjun every time. I agree in every Avataric advent, the God Man helped many Arjuns to know Him but it was not necessarily in the way Mahabharata’s Arjun saw Him.

“As Bhau Kalchuri says in his magnum opus, Lord Meher, God-Man’s appearance always coincides with the spiritual birth of man. The period immediately preceding God- Man’s manifestation is always marked by humanity suffering from the pangs of the approaching birth…

As Khandale paused as if ready to take a question, I asked him, ‘Did not Meher Baba say He is the last Avatar in this present cycle?’ As Anna was gently nodding his head, his wife Usha (they celebrated their 54th marriage day on Jan 24, 2012) quietly entered the room, placed two cups of steaming tea before us and left us undisturbed. I don’t think he took notice of her entry and exit, much less of the tea cup before him. I had to remind him, though he was my host, of the tea that was getting cold in the cold breeze that had engulfed Meherabad that December evening.

Said Khandale, “It was some time in the December of 1942 that Baba told the Women Mandali that He is the last Avatar in this present cycle of twenty-four. Therefore, the present Avatar is the greatest and the most powerful. Baba told the women Mandali probably in the same conversation that he has the attributes of five Avatars – as pure as Zoroaster, as truthful as Ram, as mischievous as Krishna, as gentle as Jesus, and as fiery as Muhammad. We are lucky in a way that we all came to know of Him when He was in our midst physically”.

I hastened to correct him. “Don’t say we. Say I, it is ok because you saw Him in 1944 itself. I only heard of Baba in the late sixties by when He went into His seclusion and offered no public darshan. I wrote a couple of letters. Eruch and Adi replied on His behalf. Bad luck, I lost those letters over the years. I saw Baba only when He moved into the Samadhi and gave His darshan for seven days”.

Anna said: “When you had darshan or whether you could have His darshan is not material. You should not go by that benchmark. You heard about Him when He was physically amidst us, when He was physically suffering for us. You were able to come to Meherabad for His great darshan. All this is no mean thing. How many of our contemporaries have had this much opportunity. When compared to many, we are lucky, you are lucky and you and I are lucky because He provided the opportunity to hear about Him. Unless God wills–He doesn’t will always — we cannot come anywhere near the place which He makes His abode.

“Read Bhauji’s (Bhau Kalchuri) book on Baba Manifesting. He clearly brings out the majesty of the Avatar and the great significance of the Manifestation of Meher Baba. According to Bhauji, being the last Avatar of this cycle, Meher Baba Mission is to bring all the religions, sects, cults and isms together, and He accomplishes this by breaking down each of the religious orthodoxies.

“Now why Meher Baba is the greatest of the Avatars of this cycle? Baba is the greatest because, as Bhau says, Baba is for all races of humanity. His universal work is the culmination of all the work of all previous Avatars. His work will benefit the world more than any of the previous Avatars. The people of each religion of the world will recognize Him as the same Ancient One, who appeared in the form of Zarathustra, Ram, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed.

“Yes, Meher Baba is different from the earlier Avatars. He did not speak. He observed silence for days and months and years. Yet, His silence was eloquent. I think His silence spoke more words. Unlike in the earlier Avataric times, Meher Baba traveled extensively around India and the world. Bhauji’s Lord Meher tells us what He said and what He did on every single day of His Mission on earth. Lord Meher is not a book; it is a mirror to every day life of Meher Baba. Such chronicles are not there about earlier avatars. So, Lord Meher is a path breaking effort; it tells you what Meher Baba did on any given day, with whom He had interacted, what message or discourse He gave.

Bhau when he was night watchman of Meher Baba

I interrupted Anna Khandale again. “You have not answered my main question”.

He replied: “I am coming to that point. When God is amongst us, the universal tendency is to see His physical presence as an ordinary man of the world. When He asserts His Divinity on earth by proclaiming Himself as the Avatar of the Age, He is worshipped by some who accept Him as God, and glorified by a few who know Him as God on earth. These are few lucky souls who had come in contact with Him because of their carry forward sanskaras. Rest of the humanity doesn’t recognize Him, instead condemns Him, makes fun of Him, when He is physically in their midst. Frankly, such condemnation or attacks make no difference to Him. Going by what we have seen in Meher Baba’s life, we can say even such condemnation is a part of Divine Theme and Plan. How will you know about Him unless there is someone who speaks about Him one way or the other?

“Take Prabhu (Lord) Ram, for instance. He was known and respected by the people of Ayodhya and beyond as a King, and not as Incarnation of God. It took thousands of years for the mankind to accept Ram as Avatar of the Age. Today we see there are lot of devotes of Prabhu Ram; there is no need to tell them that Prabhu Ram was the Avatar – God in Human form, that he had taken birth to end evil and to re-establish truth and to awaken sections of humanity towards divine love. God manifests Himself in the hearts of humanity but it takes some time.

“Prabhu Ram did not establish a religion, certainly a religion as a prison, such things are always later day creations and it is to break the barriers created by religion in action that God Man comes down to the earth to end all orthodoxies and to let fresh breeze in again.

“We are on the point that Avatar is seldom recognized during his Physical Life time. At the time of Lord Krishna, even Arjun, who was so close to Him, did not accept Him as God in Human form, and, therefore, Lord Krishna had to give him Virat Roop Darshan (Divine Universal Form). It took thousands of years for the mankind to accept Krishna as God in Human form. So we can say it takes years and years for the Avatar to manifest Himself in the hearts of humanity. The same thing happened when Jesus Christ arrived, during the time of Gautam Buddha and the time of Prophet Mohammed. But the case of Avatar Meher Baba is quite different. He declared Himself ‘I am the Avatar of the Age’. And said: The time has come. I repeat the call, and bid all COME UNTO ME’.

“Meher Baba said: ‘I veil myself from man by his own curtain of ignorance and manifest My glory to a few. My present Avataric Form is the last incarnation of this Cycle of time. Hence My manifestation will be the greatest’.

“Let me get into some specifics. In 1938, Meher Baba declared that the world will become ‘instant’. At that time the meaning of the word ‘instant’ was not clear to those who heard him say so. But today we see how Instant has become Instant, how the communication flows between continents, between people, how the world has come together with the Internet. You can move anything from anywhere by clicking on the mouse button.

“In the long history of mankind, the history of twentieth century is the most outstanding; it is full of unprecedented events. In this century, we have seen the rise and rise and fall of Communist philosophy, we have seen imperialism at its best and worst and finally we saw its defeat, we have seen the end of monarchies which we know existed in one form or the other from pre-historic period, we have seen an end to discrimination based on race and color of skin, we have seen in India the abolition of untouchability. Read Lord Meher to know first hand how Baba worked to end untouchability in the twenties when untouchability was not a political issue it was to become in later years.

“Technological and scientific developments have reached their zenith in our age. Now man is enjoying the privileges of yogis enjoyed –with his cell phone, television, and computer. This is all because of the advent of God in human form as Avatar on earth. The scientific inventions are at their zenith on account of the migration and influx of highly brainy men from other planets — with 100% intellect to our earth. It is all due to the Advent of Avatar, as Meher Baba says.

“Meher Baba bathed the lepers who were suffering from wet leprosy with His own hands. No Mahatma or saint of the world has done such work so far as wet lepers are concerned. Baba worked with lepers in an age when anyone afflicted with leprosy was made a social outcaste. This incurable disease of leprosy has become curable in this age because of Avatar’s invisible work.

“All the age old traditions and practices in political and social systems are becoming a thing of the past one after the other in this age to our surprise. It is all because of Avatar Meher Baba’s invisible work done…He did all His work incognito. He did not have a PR agency to tell the world what He was doing or what he had set about to do. Well, He needed none. This creation is His. He is here to set right things and give a universal push.

“Though His work carried out beyond the gaze the media, Meher Baba is today visible than ever before…. His biography running into 6000 plus pages is on the Internet for everyone to read. Shall I tell you more bluntly? Meher Baba is today available to the humanity through innumerable channels, on the Internet, and YouTube at the click on the mouse. Contrast this phenomenon with the times of Prabhu Ram or Lord Krishna or Jesus – None of these past Avatars were easily available to the people of their times excepting a chosen few, who were very advanced souls.

“Now, you can understand why I keep saying Avatar Meher Baba has started manifesting, and is waking up people. Come and spend a day at the Samadhi. You will see people coming for darshan from all walks of life from all over the world, White Man and Woman, Brown Man and Woman, Black Man and Woman – people of all ages, of all castes, creeds and religions from China, Russia, Africa, Latin America and so many other regions.

“In these visitors to the Samadhi, I see breaking down of religious walls, customs and traditional barriers, and orthodoxies. Many of these people are coming not because some body told them to visit Meherabad for solace or comfort. They are coming on their own. Many of them have seen Baba in their dreams, heard Baba talk to them…

“…I met this couple – who are Theosophists – they came to Samadhi one day evening, not knowing whether the doors would be open, wondering what would be the practices here at the Samadhi. They told me that they had come here because Baba appeared in their dream and asked them ‘Why are you not visiting my Samadhi’. That was the first time they had heard about Meher Baba.

“Do you know what had prompted the construction of the beautiful Baba centre in Delhi? The inspiration came from a non-baba lover family; their son on the death bed spoke of Meher Baba and told them that he was seeing Baba. After the son died, they made enquiries about Meher Baba and learnt about Baba from friends in Delhi, Mumbai and other places and came here to the Samadhi. What does this all tell you?

Anna looked at me as if he was waiting for my response. But what could I say, add or subtract to what he has said about the One, who has grandly declared that ‘all religions and traditions belong to me’, and that His advent is ‘for all, not those of East or West, or any other arbitrary distinction based on accidents of birth, geography and the like’.

Meherabad itself bears true testimony to the unfolding phenomenon. Over the past forty years, this dry, draughty sleepy village has become a township pulsating with activity; a place, which once had no shelter for overnight stay, today offers comfortable accommodation through out the year, and the throngs of visitors have made every day an Amartithi.

Tsai’s response to social grievances has been to promote a reactionary, protectionist agenda, accusing Ma of sending “Taiwanese investors rushing into China” and causing job losses in Taiwan. As Ma explained, most of the outsourcing and shift of production to China took place under the former DPP government. The DPP, however, appears to be the beneficiary of the anger and discontent among voters. Its polling figures have risen since its 2008 defeat, while still trailing behind those of the KMT. ( courtesy wsws.org)

Yemen’s stockpile of weapons official and unofficial is dangerously huge. The number of uncontrolled weapons is four times larger than the number of weapons in the hands of the security forces. Saleh ruled through a complex system of patronage and fear, not as a snake charmer but literally dancing on the heads of snakes. He managed internal threats like the separatist planks in the south and the Shiite Houthi revolt in the north. How his successor will fare is a million dollar question just as when he would actually step down remains a hundred thousand dollar doubt.

Even before the ink on the GCC agreement signed on Nov 23 dried, pro Saleh faction took the streets of capital Sana’a to denounce the deal while the opposition demonstrated its relief and happiness with unconcealed glee. The ensuing clashes claimed five lives. At least 41 were injured, including 27 from gunshot wounds.

As Peter Symonds says, the GCC agreement by no means guarantees that Saleh will leave office. On at least three occasions he had publicly pledged to quit, only to renege. Moreover, under the arrangement, Saleh will retain a ceremonial role as president even after he has formally handed his powers to Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi within 30 days. Presidential elections are due within three months.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia gave his blessing to the agreement, which was signed in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. He declared that it would “open a new page” in Yemen’s history and lead to greater freedom and prosperity. In a similar vein, US President Obama, another backer of the deal, hailed the “historic transition,” saying the Yemeni people “deserve the opportunity to determine their own future.”

These are tall claims. Only time can verify their veracity. The point of interest for the present will be focused on Vice President Hadi, a Saleh appointee himself, as he goes about forming a “national unity” government prior to the presidential election.

Hadi, a former army officer, will also head a military committee to oversee the restructuring of the military. There is no guarantee, however, that the changes will end the grip of the Saleh family over the country’s military and security apparatus. Saleh’s son, Ahmed, commands the elite Republican Guard, which has been gunning down protesters and fighting street battles in Sana’a against rebel troops and tribal fighters. Three of Saleh’s nephews hold key security and intelligence posts.

Under the agreement, Saleh will remain leader of the ruling General People’s Congress, which has an overwhelming majority in the country’s parliament. Elections scheduled for April 2009 were postponed for two years. The government also cancelled elections in April this year, using the anti-government protests as a pretext. No new parliamentary elections are planned until a review of the constitution takes place.

Going by reports, it appears the youth, who have been leading the anti-government protests, are not impressed by the GCC deal. They are indeed angry if the angry march along Zubairy Street in the capital’s centre on Nov 24 is taken as the bench mark of public dismay. They chanted, “Our revolution will continue, so beware Saleh” and “No immunity for the murderers.” Some held up photos of those killed in previous demonstrations.

The protesters are demanding that all Saleh’s family members be removed from office and put on trial along with the president himself. Their goal: the end of the whole regime.” There are reports of sharp differences between traditional opposition parties and protesters. According to the Guardian, speakers from the Islah party were forced to flee Change Square, the protest headquarters, after coming under a barrage of eggs, plastic bottles and stones from protesters chanting: “Our stage, our revolution, down with the opposition!”

The Islah party is part of the opposition Joint Meeting Parties (JMP), which countersigned the GCC agreement in Riyadh and expects to hold posts in the proposed “unity” government. The Islah lead opposition coalition includes Islamists, Socialists, and Nasserite. An overwhelming majority of the protesters in the streets are from Islah ranks. If the present spate of protests gain momentum, sections of workers and oppressed rural people may join the campaign giving it a new dimension altogether. Yemen is the most impoverished of the Arab countries, with 42 percent of the population living on less than $US2 a day.

Efforts are therefore being made to end the protests. UN special envoy Jamal Benomar, who played a central role in patching the GCC deal together, made a special appeal to the anti-government opposition: “You have generated the momentum for change in Yemen. The door is now open for you to make a real difference in the transition.”

The appeal was not directed so much to the young demonstrators but to Major General Ali Mohsen, who defected to the opposition with his troops, and the leaders of powerful Ahmar clan, who have also mobilized their fighters. These opposition figures, who control the northern and western suburbs of Sana’a, have yet to respond to the signing of the GCC agreement.

If Mohsen can be persuaded to abide by the deal, the anti-government protesters in Change Square would be more vulnerable. His troops have provided a measure of protection for the protests from attack. If the young demonstrators cannot be pressured to end their opposition, the “national unity” government will have to turn to the security forces.

One expert with pronounced anti-American views avers that US backing for the GCC agreement has nothing to do with supporting the democratic rights of the Yemeni people. ‘Like in Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan, here in Yemen also the Obama administration is concerned to install a regime that will protect American interests and wage its covert war in Yemen against member of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)’.

This is a claim that is not without merit since the Pentagon and the CIA have been forging closer links with the Yemeni security forces. In a statement issued on Nov 23, the Pentagon said “our shared interest with the Yemeni government in fighting terrorism… goes beyond specific individuals.”

There is no denying that al-Qaeda has expanded its reach in Yemen, making the local off-shoot, the most dangerous of al-Qaeda’s many franchises. Zinjibar, a port city in the Gulf of Aden is under its influence. Anarchy will give it the cover to carry out deadly attacks and even hamper the freedom of shipping in the Bab El Mandeb Straits, through which more than 3 million barrels of oil pass through every day.

Yemen borders Saudi Arabia, and is adjacent to strategic shipping lanes into the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Yemenis struggle is akin to the Tahrir Square outburst in Egypt. And like in Cairo, in Sana’a too, the struggle for change is far from over. Whoever comes to power ultimately, will have to grapple with a bleak economic situation. Years of misrule and cronyism are compounded by losses in oil export revenue estimated at $10 billion.

—m. rama rao
(*This commentary first appeared on Poreg, www.poreg.org)

However, even if Damascus allows Arab League inspectors into the country, which many observers consider unlikely, the US-led campaign for regime change will continue, driven by the desire of US and European imperialism to control the vast oil and gas resources of the Middle East and block any genuinely progressive expression of the aspirations of the Syrian population.
(wsws.org)

Sai devotee Suresh Vadhava from Mumbai has donated Chandan wood palanquin worth Rs.19 lakh 50 thousand to Shri Saibaba in Shirdi.

Jayant Sasane,chairman of Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust(Shirdi),and trustee Ashok Khambekar were present on the occasion.

Meher Baba, 1939

On Meherabad hill, every day offers a surprise. The other day, for instance, a family celebrating the birthday of their grandchild, distributed cookies after the evening prayers along with regular prasad. Every one received a cookie packed neatly in a sachet. And in the sachet is a neatly printed Message.

While I missed picking up my sachet being an early bird for the darshan, my friend Ramachandra Gaikwad, a long time resident of Lower Meherabad, proudly displayed his ‘possession’. It read: ‘Baba might reward you with something to meet your expectations or he might give you nothing and that nothing would be everything’.

The cookies were uniform in size; their taste was also the same but not the message they delivered. Every single sachet surprised you with a different message. Who said uniformity is order of the day in Meherabad; who said there is a dull moment with Meher Baba?

Gokaran Srivastav too offers a surprise. He manages the Hill Library along with his wife, Urmila. The Gokarans moved to the Tomb Shrine Township, which is Meherabad, after they retired as Professors of Science from a leading University in Central India. Though a familiar face to me, I met Gokaran formally only this September. The initiative for the meeting was entirely mine.

My impression of Gokaran Srivastav, whom I will henceforth refer to as the Professor, has been that he is a person who is eternally insecure. A timid and withdrawing type, – introvert is not an expression that does full justice to his persona – he is quite humourless.  And that he manages the Hill Library, which is his turf, as a personal fiefdom, that he is institutionalising a new order by commemorating important days in Baba’s life, that the  ‘event management’ is in the college seminar mode, where speakers are selected on their ability to reciprocate  your gesture……

My impressions of his wife, Urmila, were no different, though I found her more relaxed when meeting even strangers. Unlike the Professor, she is quick-witted, and can brighten up any atmosphere.  She is given to quick bouts of angry outbursts though. And the seminars the husband and wife team conduct are occasions for a dialogue between the two with an occasional friendly intruder of their choice.

Vaniram’s exposure to the Professors during her first stint on the Hill as a Meher Self-less Volunteer strengthened my perceptions. I felt that there was no need to change my views until I met him to interview him for South Asian Tribune.

The interview brought me face –to-face with a new Professor, who is eager to share his love for Him and who is going the extra mile to spot and nurture talent that will eventually fill the vacancies on the Baba Speakers circuit as the old guard, who had learnt the abcd of life and love at His Feet, are returning to live in Him permanently.

The task is not easy these days when written word has few takers.  Reading habit is low in India and the literacy levels are still lower.  In most Baba centres there is hardly anyone who is willing to face the mike. The Centres’ libraries are stashed with books, with Lord Meher occupying the pride of place. Not many borrow these books. Yes, most Baba lovers are good listeners – whether it is a bhajan session or a get together to share experiences.

Some old timers like Malhotra in Delhi, Anna Khandale in Meherabad-Akola, B Rama Krishnaiah in Hyderabad, and Ramana Murthy in Srikakulam have introduced the practice of readings from God Speaks and Discourses.  Being the products of Remington Age, they don’t do any power point presentation; they don’t confine to mere reading of the passages but educate the listeners with various aspects of Baba’s Life and Message by going beyond the printed word. No surprise, Malhotra, Anna Khandale, Rama Krishnaiah and Ramana Murthy are always on demand with ‘sahvas’ becoming a regular feature at the centres.

Says the Professor: “This is a big gap … people, who can speak, people who are willing to speak. We are trying to address the problem in our own way”.

When he says ‘We’, he means he, and his wife.

I was not impressed. Listening to others’ speak, and write on what they speak has been my brick and mortar business. Well, frankly, my bread and butter business for four-long decades. So, the Professor’s lament on shortage of talent to fill the emerging vacuum surprised me. Till it struck me that the Professor was on Baba’s Love World unlike me whose ears and eyes are focused on the hurly-burly world of politics and the world of economics.

Seeing me turn attentive, the Professor came into his elements.

“Every day new people are coming to Samadhi. How they are coming? May be they have heard about Baba from relatives, friends or acquaintances. May be they think visiting Samadhi would please their relatives who are steeped in Baba’s love.  But what happens when they come here. They get a cultural shock of sorts. This is not a place of worship they are familiar with. The silence here stuns them. Most of them are not given to bowing before a Samadhi. That becomes another cultural shock. Will the experience enriches them? Well, that depends on their samsakaras and Baba’s wish. Being casual, unprepared visitors, many of them may carry home an experience that can be said to be not pleasant, negative, bad….

“We, the old timers, who have had the good fortune of His Darshan, should do something.  This urge resulted in the shaping of our library. And it led to setting up our Photo exhibition.

“The next logical step is helping every one discover the Avataric legacy. The discovery exercise is not creating a cult. Baba Himself spoke against such things. He Himself said that He is here to awaken us. We have to be wide awake to receive His Nazar. Mark my word. We are saying discovering Avataric legacy. You discover something which is already present and you had missed earlier for one reason or the other. As a scientist I know what I am talking…

“There are so many events in Baba’s Life.  Not a single day has been left untouched by Him. We are picking some events to relive those wonderful moments, to educate ourselves on the significance of those events……   Our first effort to relive, to remember, to savour the beauty of the Three Incredible Weeks, was a modest success. Just 20 persons turned up. Were we disheartened? No. Our next offering was 1955 Sahvas. It attracted a bigger turnout. Some 50 lovers from the ‘original sahvas’   joined us in the November of 2005. The arrangements were on the Amartithi scale. What does this tell? We are on the right track with His Blessings. An evolutionary process in discovering Avataric legacy? Well, yes, it is.

“We are yet to come to grips with our main problem –people who can take the mike and speak, tell their experience, their perceptions, their stories of love, understanding….  In a seminar circuit, a speaker is expected to send in advance the theme of his speech, slides for power point presentation and so on, and yes, text of the speech….

“We are nowhere near that stage. We have to coax people, run after them to come forward and speak.

“For the October (2011) programme on Discovering the Avataric Legacy, we suggested some fifteen topics. These are Ten States of God, Theme of Creation, Ten Circles Chart and Baba’s Mandali, Manzil-e-Meem, Lives of Baba’s Parents, Avatars of the Past and the Avataric Cycle, Baba’s Mast Work, Baba’s Travels in India, Baba’s Worldwide Travels,   Baba’s Literature, Baba’s Interest in Music, Baba and Poetry, History of Baba Plays, History of Baba Films, and States of Consciousness.

“Having given a long list, we said ‘it is up to you. Pick up any Baba topic of your choice”. How can we fix the topics? The speaker should have the freedom to pick and chose his favourite topic from Baba’s life and message.

“We are not calling them speakers and speeches. These are sessions of sharing experiences and understandings.   These are sessions of education to the new comers… Not systematising, not institutionalising. Not creating creeds, not conventions, not setting new traditions.

“From the library what we are doing is present an audio-visual to go with the event. We make use of the old interviews, old film clips and news paper archives.  Just to build the mood and tempo.  Just to introduce the lovers to the event they have been invited to attend.

“I believe there is a need to educate, (and) to inform the new visitors to the Samadhi. How it can be done?  Whoever comes for the first time must be helped to know Baba.

“In the coming days, as Baba Himself said, Meherabad is going to be the New Jerusalem of the world. It means there will be a great influx of visitors.

“Yes. Yes. Baba Himself will take care of His new lovers. He doesn’t need you or me. But what if we all chip in and do our bit to welcome the new tide of Baba lovers, make them feel at home, and let them feel happy.  This is something within our reach. We must do this.

Professor Gokaran Srivastav would have continued with a torrent of words about the One, who has dispensed with words and has been speaking through the heart.  But the clock in his library stuck 7 PM. It was time for evening prayers at the Samadhi.

And it was time for me to discover a new surprise.

The LeT is more complex and orthodox to the core than even the Haqqani network, with which the Americans are disparate to hold talks or the Taliban with which Pakistan’s establishment is going through the motions of a dialogue for peace in an apparent bid to misguide the ears on the ground and eyes in the sky.

Sebastian and Wilson look at the Lashkar-e-Toiba phenomenon through different prisms; the American’s concern is how and why Pakistan army chief Gen Kayani is disregarding US concerns over LeT particularly Zak-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Headley. The Indian scholar goes beyond the headline and comes up with a scholarly work on LeT to add another feather to his cap as the only thorough bred terrorism expert in this part of the world, who has made the world to sit up and put on the thinking cap.

Though the Americans were loath to admit in public until the recent Mullen outburst, the US-Pakistan relationship has been strained because of LeT and its 2008 Mumbai attacks.  The state guest status that Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi enjoyed ever since he was placed under custody to assuage world opinion did not help matters either. One of the luxuries accorded to Lakhvi is access to the outside world and with a mobile phone he is conducting LeT operations without hindrance. American officials took up the issue with Gen Kayani, and he rejected the request, says Sebastian, quoting a memo addressed to the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and America’s National Security Council.

What about Headley, the half-Pakistani-half American, who is known to have juggled allegiances with militant groups, slipped with effortless ease through American cracks, and manipulated and betrayed wives, friends and allies? Official America is less than honest in sharing the unprecedented confessions he had reportedly made opening a door into the secret world of terrorism and counterterrorism in South Asia and America.

Why Washington acted in the way it did on the issue is linked to its fond hope of arm-twisting Pakistan to do its bidding in North Waziristan to tame the Haqqanis and Afghan and Pakistan Taliban.  The mission was doomed to fail and it had failed with the high-decibel interaction between the US and Pakistan offering a mild distraction.

Sebastian’s investigation report in ProPublica fills some gaps in the narrative by looking at Hedley’s past, particularly his growing up years in Pakistan as a devout Muslim, an enthusiastic jihadi, a young ideologue of Lashkar-e-Toiba and privileged informant for the US drug enforcement.  But real key to understanding the Headley phenomenon comes from looking at the bigger picture which has come to be identified with the LeT phenomenon.   And this is the canvas of Wilson John’s labours. His conclusion is disturbing to say the least as the LeT has been maintaining a very low profile and appears engaged in Dawa (religious preaching) activities through paid workers since the Mumbai attacks.

There are no visible signs of any disruption in the `strategic partnership` of LeT with the Pakistan army and ISI. Nor are there any visible signs of the Pakistani state ‘disengaging with’, and ‘dismantling the terrorist group’, according to the author.  In his assessment, Let remains the world’s most powerful, and resourceful, multi-national terrorist group. It is this what makes terrorist attacks directly carried out by LeT or by its proxies in India and elsewhere in the world a possibility and the threat will remain quite high in the coming years. ‘At least some of these attacks would be spectacular in visibility and impact, and will carry the potential of triggering a military conflict in the region’, Wilson opines.

With over 50,000 armed cadres trained in guerrilla warfare, intelligence gathering, explosives, and sabotage, LeT has a unique leverage vis-a-vis Pakistan military hierarchy. In fact, it has become a reliable military reserve force that can be outsourced work by the Pakistan Army like it did during the Kargil war waged by then army chief Gen Musharraf.

Today, , LeT runs scores of training centres in Khyber Pakhtunkhwah, Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and POK. The objective is to have an office and centre in every district of Pakistan.  LeT spends about $330 per trainee for the daura-e-aam course (basic) and about $1700 per trainee in the more advanced three-month daura-e-khaas course.  Its operational bill is over $5 million a year.

Pakistan Army and ISI reimburse the bill on training camps, and launching of attacks on India and Afghanistan.  Herald magazine from the stable of Pakistan’s most respected and sedate daily, Dawn,  reported in June 2006 that ISI pay off was as much as $50,000 -60000 every month. LeT also manages for a fee the terrorist campaigns of Pakistan Army/ISI and the extremist agenda of anonymous patrons in West Asia.

The other key source of LeT money is Islamic charities across the world, particularly those based in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Inside Pakistan, LeT acts primarily as a dawa group promoting a radical interpretation of Islam much on the lines of its Wahhabi patrons in Saudi Arabia and UAE. This alliance brings the group an enormous amount of petro-dollars as donations   to its madrasas and mosques in Punjab. A 2008 US estimate put this annual munificence at over $100 million a year. Some Pakistani business houses in Punjab have been supporting the group’s terrorist activities by giving money and food articles for the recruits.

Wilson John’s study brings to light another lesser known facet of Lashkar-e-Toiba. The group’s wide-ranging terrorist activities flourish under the guise of various charity organisations and trusts. These are not driven by any domestic agenda but a broader goal of establishing a Caliphate through jihad. It goes about the task in four ways though on a low key.

One it runs recruitment centres out of mosques, book shops, and social-welfare centres sprinkled across Pakistan. Two it taps kinship networks of maulvis, local terrorist/extremist allies, Afghan Jihad associates and its own alumni in South Asia.  Three it recruits bright faces in the West through allied or proxy groups in the home countries.  A former soldier, Sajid Mir, heads a well-funded external recruitment wing at the LeT headquarters.  Four, it has become a terror consultancy with military officials – retired, dismissed or resigned in its ranks.

Aftermath of a terrorist attack in Quetta

By the late 90s, LeT had set up its main training campus at Baitul Mujahideen near Shawai Nala in Muzaffarabad (PoK). The campus was expanded by 2001 to house several hundred recruits at any time. The training syllabus was overhauled under the supervision of former and current ISI and Army officers. Specialised courses were introduced, among them: intelligence gathering; communication technology; sabotage; and managing interrogation.   American authorities are aware of the danger posed by LeT’s global recruitment and consultancy. In-house research carried out by New York University’s Centre on Law and Security has brought into sharp focus how American citizens or residents had travelled to an overseas training camp or war zone since 9/11.

Simultaneously, LeT has been acting as an agent for al Qaeda and the Taliban to train their new cadres, procure weapons, and generate funds and give them protection. Result is that emergence of unparalleled jihadi alumni in as many as 22 countries and the ripples of the wave are being felt across many parts of the world. While it would be difficult to arrive at even a rough estimate of their numbers, it is fair to suggest that it would go beyond a few thousand, according to Wilson Johan. Difficult to disagree with his conclusion after seeing the spread of LeT tentacles through South Asia, and the emergence of double deep cover agents like David Headley in America, which has become the hate symbol for the jihadis of all hues.

Says Wilson: “This ability to infiltrate and implant agents far away from its natural harbour in Pakistan—and its capacity and willingness to train terrorists from different groups and nationalities, even individuals—strongly raises the possibility of LeT or any of its proxies, alumni, or trained cadre, executing a spectacular terrorist attack on the US homeland, or in any other western capital…in other words, LeT today has the operational capability, reach and resources to carry out an attack of the magnitude of 9/11 anywhere in the world”.

What makes LeT a greater threat than other outfits is its BPO service to eliminate other sectarian/extremist/militant groups which take on the Pakistan Army and  run protest campaigns, hold conferences and public meetings for the army, to create and shape public opinion especially against India and the US.  (Syndicate Features)

(* the author is a columnist on South Asian issues and terrorism)

Bangladesh’s renewed demand that Pakistan must tender a formal apology for the 1971 Genocide does indeed come as a surprise. Not its timing though.  The demand articulated on Sunday Nov 20 by Foreign Minister Dipu Moni has coincided with the commencement of trials in the three-judge International Crimes Tribunal headed by Justice Nizamul Huq.

Sheik Hasina government came to power promising to bring to book all the guilty men who had committed ‘crimes against humanity’ during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Topping the hit list are the leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, who had openly collaborated with the Pakistani forces which killed 30 lakh people and raped 2 lakh women during the nine-month war.

Jamaat’s nayeb-e-ameer, Delawar Hossain Sayedee, has just been made to stand trial; the charge-sheet against him runs into 88-pages. And the charges range from genocide, killing, rape, arson, to abduction and torture of civilians in his home district of Pirojpur. These offences are covered by the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act.

Pakistan was in fact put on notice by Dhaka shortly after the SAARC summit at Addu Atoll, a Maldivian resort, by refusing to budge an inch on its opposition to EU waiving tariffs on Pakistani textiles. Hina Rabbani Khar, the foreign minister of Pakistan, had egg on her face as a result. Because, even before returning to Islamabad, she told the Pak media covering the summit that Dipu Moni admitted that its objection was an accident and would be withdrawn

EU offered US $ 140 million relief in import duties to flood-hit Pakistan over the next three years.  Relief is a euphemism as every trade analyst knows. It will confer an undue advantage on Pakistan by making its core exports cheaper than rivals Bangladesh including.

EU Council of Ministers, the apex body, takes the call on tax reliefs provided there are no objections from other countries to whom also EU is the white trading knight in shining armour, and if it is not made an issue at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

India raised objections in September last year itself fearing that its goods would face uneven competition while entering the EU market in the event of Pakistan getting the EU concession. But it has since yielded after some progress on the bilateral trade front.

Not Bangladesh. For it too, like for Pakistan, clothing and textiles make up 60 per cent of its exports to EU.  Knitted or crocheted gloves, with regular duties of 6.4 % to 8%, women’s cotton garments, which attract 9.6% to 12% and a wide range of cotton fabrics, knitted and woven clothes, totaling in all 75 goods, are the common export basket. Pakistan realizes 62.7 million Euros from yarn exports alone.

‘We support EU to help flood-hit Pakistan, but aid should not be at the cost of trade. Trade and aid should not be mixed’,   a Bangladeshi policy maker said as Dhaka firmed up its opposition to the EU move and conveyed its ‘concern’ to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).  Its worry is mainly related to eight items – four are in knitwear sector, three in woven sector and one in leather sector.

EU offers tariff preference to the goods of the least developed countries (LDCs). For EU, Pakistan is a developed country, like India, and as such is ineligible for any tariff concession. This has been the ‘principle’ stand of the EU for long.

“We are firm on our position regarding the issue since our apparel export will face a serious challenge, if the Pakistani goods are granted tariff concession while entering the EU market” Bangladesh Commerce Secretary Md Ghulam Hossain told the a Dhaka daily on Nov 15. “Our proposal is either to remove the eight apparel items from the list of 75 items, or to offer the tariff concession up to 20 per cent of Pakistan’s last year’s export of the items to the EU market,” he said.

If the Pakistani leadership expected Bangladesh to wave the green flag, it could be either because of rank arrogance that dates back to the days of Yahya Khans and Zulfikar Ali Bhuttos or outright ignorance of history and global trade. If flood devastation in the textile belt of Sindh in 2010 was the reason for EU bending its rules, Bangladesh has a stronger case for such a relief since it is visited by devastating floods year- after-year.

As Dipu Moni told the new Pak envoy to Dhaka, Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi, ‘giving trade preference to a country solely on account of natural disasters is unprecedented’. She said Bangladesh, frequently visited by even more devastating natural disasters, was fully sympathetic toward the flood victims of Pakistan. And pointed out that a number of countries, including those from Latin America, opposed the initiative even before Bangladesh did.

For Mehdi Hashmi, the shocker was, however, Dipu Moni reading what was a virtual riot act.  “An early resolution of the outstanding issues will enable existing friendly relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan to make a great leap forward and create a wider space for cooperation,” she told the envoy.

Topping the agenda is the formal apology from Pakistan for the genocide and atrocities committed by the Pakistani military in Bangladesh in 1971. Next in priority is repatriation of stranded Pakistani Mohajirs, division of assets and war reparation. The Mohajirs as Bihari Muslims are known since they had migrated from Bihar to newly created Pakistan in 1947 have been living as stateless citizens in Dhaka since 1971.

Former President Pervez Musharraf, the first army ruler to visit Bangladesh, tried to meet the Bangladesh demand half-way in 2002. He termed the 1971 atrocities as ‘excesses’, which, he said, were ‘unfortunate’ and ‘regrettable.

On his arrival in Dhaka on July 29, Musharraf first visited the national memorial at Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, to pay homage to the liberation war heroes. He wrote in the visitors’ book at the memorial: “I bring sincere greetings and good wishes from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for their Bangladeshi brethren and sisters. We wish this land and its people peace, progress and prosperity”. The Pakistani leader continued: “Your brothers and sisters in Pakistan share the pain of the events of 1971. The excesses during that unfortunate period are regrettable. Let us bury the past in a spirit of magnanimity. Let not the light of the future be dimmed. Let us move forward together. I am confident that with our joint resolve Pakistan-Bangladesh friendship will flourish in the years to come”.

A section of the Bangladesh media projected these remarks as something as close as possible to a “formal apology” and argued that there was “no reason now” for Bangladesh “to remain antagonistic”. As if cashing in on ‘the opening’, he said at the state banquet: “My brothers and sisters in Pakistan share with their fellow brothers and sisters in Bangladesh profound grief over the parameters of the events of 1971. As a result of this tragedy a family having common religious and cultural heritage and united by a joint struggle for independence and a shared vision of the future, was torn apart. We feel sorry for this tragedy and the pain it caused to both our peoples”.

Khaleda Zia government of the day appeared satisfied. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia responded: “Thank you, Mr. President, for your candid expression on the events of 1971. This will, no doubt, help mitigate the old wounds”

Morshed Khan, then foreign minister, elaborated thus: “We don’t want to embarrass a guest by discussing issues like an apology for the 1971 war situation. It is the spirit of the people of the two countries that will decide that.” he said.  With Jamaat as a constituent of the ruling coalition, neither Khaleda nor Morshed Khan could have said anything else.

Veteran Bangladeshi journalist, Haroon Habib says: “…while his predecessors tried to shift the blame for the barbaric acts on the military or upon a few “generals”, Musharraf had gone a step forward by expressing regret for the events. However, he failed to pay due honour to the history that separated the two wings of Pakistan, overshadowing the pervasive influence of the two-nation theory of 1947.

By accepting, not avoiding, the truth of history in good grace, as Habib points out, Musharraf made a rapprochement possible between Pakistan and the erstwhile East Pakistan. The scars left behind by the war of independence are deep and cannot be erased easily. While time certainly is the biggest healer, a gesture like formal, unconditional public apology from Pakistan will heal the wounds and mollify the people of Bangladesh, who have proved sceptics like Henry Kissinger wrong, by braving all odds to carve out a place under the sun.

By ALLABAKSH

New Delhi (Syndicate Features): Entertainment channels in West Bengal must be offering a variety of ‘reality show’ to lure viewers and advertisers by incurring heavy costs for the production. If they are cost conscious it is time they thought of capturing audience with a very lively political reality show in which the state’s chief minister will be the main star.

Mamata Banerjee, the mercurial Trinmool Congress supremo, has been regaling audiences with threats to unsettle the UPA where her party is a crucial partner. She has been busier upbraiding the Congress-led UPA government more than her long-standing political foe, the CPI (M) or addressing growing security concerns arising from the Maoists revival after a comparative lull.

Her threats may be empty, as most people can see. But her words and action enliven the political scene, both in Kolkata and Delhi, more than the running spats she has with her Left rivals in West Bengal and the cumulative effect of all the anti-graft voices against the UPA government in New Delhi.

It probably leaves Mamata little time to attend to the myriad problems of her state for which she has blamed the more than three decades long Left Front rule. Solving or trying to solve problems can be a trying and long drawn out effort. And certainly it holds less attraction than the sight and sound of verbal jousts between partners or allies.

Her outbursts against the Congress will suggest that she is ready to simultaneously take on the duo of the CPI (M) and Congress to establish her credentials as West Bengal’s most popular leader. What better entertainment on the idiot box than a diminutive local heroine single-handedly taking on the mightiest of the land? Another version of the David and Goliath story!

It gets even more entertaining when it becomes clear that this unequal fight will have many repeats. So what if some see her (eklo chalo) go-alone policy as adding to her problems and erosion of her popularity. She probably understands it as well but rightly allows her compulsion to look combative prevail.

Those in her party who do not share her impetuosity add spice to the ‘reality’ show. A day after her anti-Congress outburst which followed a rally in South Kolkata protesting against the alleged assault on Congress party workers by the Trinmool activists, one of the senior Trinmool Congress leaders said that his party has no desire to snap ties with the Congress. It is highly unlikely that this reconciliatory message was delivered without the approval of Mamata Banerjee. Such intrigues in the plot are good for the TRPs.

It is this kind of mystery that signals ‘all is well’ between the Trinmool and the Congress and even hints at the two parties sailing along and yet it peppers the sight with her admonitions to the Congress. It will be tragic if Mamata Banerjee decides to jettison her impulsive, emotional style of functioning and thereby lose all her TRP value. Her show cannot sell if she does not throw up tantrums (and populist stance) on issues like petrol price hike.

The viewer knows that governance and performance might fail but populism will remain a bulwark against her old foe, the CPI (M) from whom she wrested the Kolkata throne after a dogged street performance even when her job required her presence in Rail Bhavan in New Delhi. The state of West Bengal loves its Baul and Rabindra Sangeet as much as the decibel effect of twin railing against the Congress at the Centre and CPI (M) in the state.

Reality show does not expect its star performer to express regret for any hasty act. If her politician instincts require a damage control exercise she could always depute a party functionary to do the job, leaving her space guarded for further outbursts that are such big hits with the populace. It keeps her ‘rebel with a cause’ image intact. So what if at times it keeps her political ally guessing.

After the South Kolkata rally by the Congress, Mamata said that it was for the Congress to ‘decide’ whether it wanted to stay with the Trinmool Congress as the latter was quite capable of running the state government without the Congress support. That is the kind of rebuff you would expect to hear from a political reality show star.

She accused the Congress of repeatedly extending covert support to the CPI (M) and warned that this sort of arrangement could not continue if the two parties (Trinmool and the Congress) were to stay in one alliance (UPA). She reportedly declared that it was better for the Trinmool and the Congress to go their separate ways if the Congress did not stop its ‘covert’ support to the CPI (M). A showdown on a reality show is perhaps one of its biggest attractions.

The TV audience being clever know that such strong words do not necessarily mean troubled times ahead in the alliance between the Trinmool and the Congress. Mamata Banerjee, like a true ‘Didi’, the kind hearted elder sister, has shown that her scolding does not cross a red line. Those not addicted to reality shows on TV channels might translate it as meaning that she knows in her heart of heart that she cannot run her government without the Congress and the help that comes from the Centre where the Congress will be in power till the UPA government completes its five-year term in 2014.

Despite all the fire that she breeds, chief minister Mamata is a reality star in the literal sense. She is desperate for funds from New Delhi. Her game of blaming the Centre in case this help is not forthcoming may work in her favour for a while, but ultimately it will not help her retain her present hugely popular base. Her USP is her special brand of hard realism presented with theatrical skills. Mamata Banerjee could lend more realism to a reality show than any professionally trained actor. Her presence does assure a boost for the TRP. ###